RESUMO

The midgut of Apis mellifera is remodeled during metamorphosis. The epithelium and, to a lesser extent, the muscular sheath degenerate between the end of the last larval instar and the onset of pupation (prepupa). The larval epithelium is shed to the midgut lumen and digested, while a new epithelium is reconstructed from larval regenerative cells. During pupation, some reorganization still occurs, mainly in brown-eyed pupae. In pharate adult, the midgut wall shows the characteristics of adult, although some cells have pycnotic nuclei. The localization of alkaline and acid phosphatases showed that these enzymes were not involved in the reabsorption of the midgut wall.

Assuntos

Abelhas/fisiologia , Sistema Digestório/citologia , Sistema Digestório/ultraestrutura , Metamorfose Biológica/fisiologia , Animais , Abelhas/anatomia & histologia , Brasil , Larva/citologia , Larva/fisiologia , Larva/ultraestrutura , Microscopia Eletrônica , Monoéster Fosfórico Hidrolases/fisiologia

RESUMO

We report nuclear acid phosphatase activity in the somatic (intra-ovariolar and stromatic) and germ cells of differentiating honey bee worker ovaries, as well as in the midgut cells of metamorphosing bees. There was heterogeneity in the intensity and distribution of electron dense deposits of lead phosphate, indicative of acid phosphatase activity in the nuclei of these tissues, during different phases of post-embryonic bee development. This heterogeneity was interpreted as a variation of the nuclear functional state, related to the cell functions in these tissues.

Assuntos

Fosfatase Ácida/metabolismo , Abelhas/enzimologia , Núcleo Celular/enzimologia , Sistema Digestório/enzimologia , Ovário/enzimologia , Animais , Abelhas/ultraestrutura , Sistema Digestório/ultraestrutura , Feminino , Larva/enzimologia , Larva/ultraestrutura , Microscopia Eletrônica , Ovário/ultraestrutura , Pupa/enzimologia , Pupa/ultraestrutura

RESUMO

The developmental degree of the wax glands was compared in four Meliponini bees, that produce different quantities of wax. The histological data and height average of the wax epithelium during the time in which the maximum production of wax is expected, are in accordance with the rates of wax produced by the species. In Lestrimelitta limao (Smith, 1863) a species which has cleptobiotic habits, and frequently rob wax from the attacked colonies, the height of wax epithelium was the lowest among the studied species. The cells seem to show an abnormal vacuolated cytoplasm, in the phase in which they would be producing wax.